The Mamata Banerjee government hopes that extending the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) building rules to the vast tracts of multi-crop agricultural lands and even wetlands on Kolkata's eastern fringes will put a lid on repeated land-grab allegations and protect the interests of land owners.

After the flare-up on January 17, the government had hurriedly made cabinet nod mandatory for conversion of agricultural land into homestead. However, by extending Hidco's footprints, the government wants to arrest the unplanned and haphazard real estate boom in these belts before it turns detrimental to the zone's delicate ecological balance.

One of the immediate fallouts will be loss of power for local gram panchayats, for long suspected to be hotbeds of corruption with their rights to approve land sale and conversion. Ironically , all these gram panchayats are controlled by the ruling Trinamool Congress. “The panchayats created a labyrinth of cross-regulatory bodies often working at cross-purposes.With Hidco, a more holistic and rational development plan can be implemented,“ an officer said.

According to sources, a notification has been issued to bring the nine mouzas -Arberia, Bagu, Bajetaraf, Chandpur Chapagachi, Uttar Gajipur, Uriapara, Tona, Shyamnagar and Anantapur -under Hidco. The first four fall in North 24-Parganas, the rest in South 24-Parganas.

The Bhangar standoff between villagers and police, which led to the death of two persons, had precipitated over a Power Grid substation project. Anger had been simmering in the Bhangar region for some time. The allegations were primarily directed towards some Trinamool Congress leaders and their henchmen for forcible acquisition of land at the behest of real estate developers. The Trinamool leadership felt that the opposition stoked this anger to fuel the clash. Intelligence reports corroborated the same.

In 2012, the Mamata government had dissolved the Bhangar Rajarhat Area Development Authority (BRADA), giving Hidco complete say in developing the entire 6,000-7,000 hectares. A land use map was created around Bhangar and Rajarhat to check uncontrolled urbani zation. A land use development and control plan (LUDCP) was also made.

According to the rules, except for very small buildings, all other building plans must get an NoC from NKDA, which scrutinises the building plans as per permissible FAR, height related to road width, covered area of the plot and land character.

According to records, nearly 2,000 acres were sold under BRADA. The entire area comprises 15 mouzas in North 24-Parganas and nine in South 24-Parganas and fall under the jurisdiction of panchayats. Unlike Hidco, BRADA had no control over land prices and a cottah of land, that cost Rs 20,000 till some time back, was selling for up to Rs 2,00,000.

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The unused Input Tax Credit (ITC) on goods and services lying with the property developers as on March 31 will be reversed for under-construction properties since the ITC stands to lapse from April 1 for such houses.